City Hall custodian says her firing was retaliation
Had sought to unionize contractor employees
Maria Sanchez cleaned the offices of Phoenix mayors, council members and top executives for more than a decade. She took care of their plants during the pandemic, shared her home-cooked food with them and knew some of their children.
But when she was fired for uniform violations in March, city leaders said there was nothing they could do.
Sanchez didn’t technically work for the city. She worked for a company that worked for the city. City officials played no role in her termination.
Documents from 3H & 3H, Sanchez’ former employer, say Sanchez was fired because she violated dress code policies three times: once by wearing similarly colored clothing but not the actual uniform, and twice by wearing a black vest that covered the company logo.
She was terminated March 25, the day of the third violation, and told not to return the next day.
Sanchez said she believes her firing was retaliation. She had been working to unionize her colleagues since 2022 and had been warned by her supervisor to stop, she said.
Sanchez wanted better wages, more paid sick time, vacation days and benefits.
She had worked for multiple different contractors doing the same job at City Hall for roughly 11 years. But she made $14.40 an hour, 20 cents less than city employees’ minimum wage and 5 cents above Arizona’s minimum wage.
She found it hard to get days off and didn’t like being told by supervisors not to speak with Phoenix council members or employees, she said.
Sanchez brushed shoulders with city employees every day and shared the same hallways.
Councilwoman Laura Pastor said, “She’s like family to us on the floor. She knows our kids. We shared with her. It was as if she was one of us ...”
Representatives from 3H & 3H did not respond to multiple requests for comment and questions sent by The Arizona Republic.
But Sanchez was not guaranteed the same conditions or rights as city employees. A contract between the
city and her employer made clear the distinctions.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99, a union that does not officially represent Sanchez but has been assisting her, said the termination was wrongful and demonstrates the need for Mayor Kate Gallego and the City Council to pass new protections.
“What’s important is that the city of Phoenix review all of these contracts and say, ‘Are we creating a second class of employee?’” said Rana Lashgari, an attorney for UFCW.
Councilman Jim Waring, who said he was shocked by her firing because she did a good job and was well-liked, said there better have been a “compelling” reason.
“Ultimately, she works in our building. And so we’re sort of signing off on this,” he said.
On April 10, UFCW organizers joined Sanchez outside City Hall. They protested her termination and called for her reinstatement.
It was UFCW’s 10th day of protests. A handful of union members had showed up every day since Sanchez’s firing. A city official warned them not to tape signs to the building exterior, so they taped the signs to tripods or held them.
Security guards in the lobby on the ground level reminded each other not to let Sanchez in the building as she picketed outside. She had refused to give up her badge, they said. They wondered if she would try to come in.
On the 11th floor, employees and council members chatted quietly in the hallways as the demonstration went on. They described Sanchez as kind, hardworking and always on time.
Councilmembers Betty Guardado and Pastor encouraged UFCW organizers to request meetings with City Manager Jeff Barton.
Drake Ridge, a union spokesperson, said UFCW was in the process of scheduling them.
Phoenix’s contract with 3H & 3H expires Dec. 31. It was first signed in January 2022, with five one-year extension options. Unless the mayor and City Council say otherwise, the staff will renew it.
Gallego, in a statement given to The Republic, signaled a willingness to switch contractors.
“Everyone deserves to work and be compensated fairly, and when the contract is up for a rebid within the next few months, I am in favor of exploring options to prioritize companies who provide fair wages for their employees,” the mayor said.
Arielle Devorah, the mayor’s spokesperson, said Gallego also had expressed concerns about the termination to Barton.
Public Works spokesperson Spencer Blake said the city needed to solicit proposals for new contractors by June or July to replace 3H & 3H by the December deadline.
Phoenix pays the company $1.3 million per year to clean 10 facilities. Cleaning for City Hall, where Sanchez had worked, was priced at $512,000, or nearly $43,000 a month, according to the 2024 agreement.
UFCW filed an unfair labor practice charge against 3H & 3H with the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB’s investigation could take months, or longer.
Sanchez said she’s feeling calm and putting her faith in God, but she is frustrated, too. Money is tight and she wants her job back, she said.
What does Sanchez’s employer say?
Representatives from 3H & 3H did not respond to questions from The Republic, but union officials provided the “Cure Notice” sent to Sanchez explaining the company’s rationale.
The letter says Sanchez wore a “similar colored non-3H & 3H uniform” and was asked to wear the company-issued apparel by her manager on March 21. The next day and four days later, Sanchez was found wearing a black vest that covered the company logo on the shirt in violation of 3H & 3H’s rules.
Sanchez was cited for not complying with work orders and dress code. The company also said Sanchez violated official city rules that require employees to wear uniforms that clearly display a company logo.
City spokesperson Stephanie Barnes told The Republic no Phoenix employees had been disciplined over uniform violations in the past several years, according to internal records. None had been terminated, though it is possible some employees received notices, she said.